Hanyu grabs lead in Moscow Grand Prix

MOSCOW: Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan grabbed the lead after the men’s short programme at the Rostelecom Cup on Friday, the fifth leg of the ISU Grand Prix series.

Hanyu, who took Olympic gold in Sochi and Pyeongchang, earned 110.53 points for a flawless rendition of his short routine to Raul Di Blasio’s “Otonal” at Moscow’s Megasport arena.Hanyu will try to win both of his ISU Grand Prix events in the same season for the first time in his career.

Georgia’s Morisi Kvitelashvili, who was 24th in Pyeongchang, earned a personal best mark of 89.94 points for his short programme to “Bloodstream” by Tokio Myers to lie second after the opening day.

Swede Alexander Majorov is third on 82.33.Russia’s two-time European bronze medalists Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin failed to avoid some serious mistakes in their rhythm dance presentation but neverteless they received 74.49 points to buid a five-point advantage.